Something In The Air
by Gemini24
Summary: A reoccuring dream, an important mission, an unknown agent. How much of KAOS' mind games can Max and 99 take before a breaking point is reached? Note: Rated R due to current subject matter and possibility of mature subjects in the future.
1. Second Thoughts

As he sat in his makeshift prison in the back of the warehouse, Max couldn't help but think the end was near. He was feeling weak from the torture he had been subjected to. 'How could I be so stupid?' he screamed to himself. He had really messed up on this one. And it wasn't like the other times he messed up on a case, no one was there to get him out of it, 99 wasn't there to think of some ingenious plan for escaping. He knew he should've waited for the agents from the European branch to arrive before he went into the house. After all, he knew there were dozens of KAOS agents in there, but time was running out. He had to act then and get the machines back. Plus, he wasn't able to reach his contact. He went to the dock and down to the third shed at pier 34, but the contact wasn't there. He waited for almost a half hour before deciding to leave and go back to his hotel room. Once he was there he would call the Chief and tell him what had happened. He wished he could've used his shoe phone, but there had been a break in security early that day and it was too risky. They couldn't risk the chance of KAOS overhearing his conversation. Therefore, a special hotline had been installed in the hotel for Max to use to contact the Chief. He was almost to the hotel when a strange feeling overtook his body. It was at that moment that he decided to go to the house alone. He would prove to the Chief once and for all that he was capable of handling difficult missions on his own. He turned at the next corner and made his way to the house that had been discovered as the drop off and meeting place for the smugglers. He thought luck was on his side. When he arrived at the house it looked empty and he thought there was no danger in going in alone. Little did he know that it was a trap set up by Dr. Peligroso. As soon as he entered the dimly lit house he felt an arm wrap around him and a cloth cover his mouth. Within seconds he lost all consciousness and was carried to the warehouse. When he woke up he found himself surrounded that Dr. Peligroso's men. They demanded he tell them the code for the American branch of Control. The machines they were smuggling in only worked on the European code. It was going to be another five months before they cracked the American code, but now that they had Maxwell Smart they could get the code right away. Max refused to give them the code and they subjected him to hours of torture a day. He had been trained to withstand torture, but this was different. His body was growing weaker and weaker with the endless pain and lack of food. They had taken his shoes so he didn't have his suicide pill. Though, he wasn't sure if he would've used it, had he been able to. Maybe years ago he would've, but every time he thought of taking the pill, his mind was filled with thoughts of 99, and he knew he had to do whatever it took to stay alive.but he didn't know how much more he could take. It had been almost five days since his capture and everyday was filled with torture. And when he wasn't being tortured he was locked, starving, in this prison. As he waited for destiny to pass his mind wandered back to another time when he was sure the end was near. Only, it was different back then, he was with the one person he had always loved, 99. His mind replayed the events that day when they were locked in the room at the theater, surrounded by KAOS agents, and they expressed their true feelings for each other, and how he had proposed to her. And how 99 had figured out a way to escape the trap. If only his current situation was more like that moment. He knew it wasn't though, 99 was back out their apartment, while he was here in Spain. His mind went back to the day before he left on what was making out to be his last mission...  
  
"99 be sensible, I'm a secret agent this is my job. I have a duty to my country and to Control to go on this mission. I can't stay home just because you have a strange feeling about it. I would've thought that you of all people would understand."  
  
Max continued to pack his bags as 99 looked at him with a look that was a combination of disgust, admiration and love. She knew he was a devoted agent, that was one of the things that attracted her to him, but there was something different about this mission. For the past week she had had dreams, no nightmares, about Max.  
  
In these nightmares Max had been sent to Europe to track down a KAOS smuggling ring that was sneaking machines into the European countries that could crack every code used by Control's European branch. She didn't give it a second thought, they were agents and that was what they did. In her nightmares strange things started to occur. First it was the photos of them. Slowly Max's pictures were starting to fade from the photos. Then rose petals started showing up around their apartment, on the sofa, in her purse, on Max's pillow. And the strangest thing was the way people treated her. Everywhere she went people gave her looks of comfort and reassurance. However, for some odd reason she didn't really give any of these events a second thought. The pictures were just old and dusty she told herself, a good cleaning and they'd be like new. And the rose petals were probably something Max thought up, he could've easily had one of the other agents put them in the apartment while she was gone. And as far as the looks were concerned, it was probably just her imagination. She hated being away from Max and everyone knew it. That was it she convinced herself, and went about her life as she waited for Max to return.  
  
About a week after Max left on the case the Chief called 99 into his office. Right away she knew something was wrong. She had just been in the Chief's office the afternoon before, on Friday. He brought her up to date on Max's mission, or at least part of it. He had just learned something that had sucked the life out of him. Max had failed to report for contact three days earlier and nobody knew where he was. Even though Max did tend to mess up at times he was loyal and *never* missed a contact. Worst yet, he had received information from a top agent of Control's European branch that Dr. Peligroso's agents had been celebrating the fact that they had killed an agent. It was unknown which agent it was, or even if it was a Control agent at all. Though, considering the latest details it was hard to get the thought that it was Max out of his head. Max was like a son to him and the thought that he may be gone had a different effect on him than the deaths of other agents did. Even though it went against his professionalism, he couldn't bring himself to tell 99 what he knew. She was Max's wife and like family to him, hurting her was something he couldn't do. After all, nothing was certain. So far it was just hearsay, nothing solid to go on and therefore no reason to worry 99. So he lied and told 99 that Max was doing great and the mission was proceeding just as planned. He told her that unless something went wrong, she wouldn't be called back to his office until Tuesday afternoon. As she walked out of his office, the Chief's mind was filled with thoughts of what may be included.. or who could be missing.. in her future.  
  
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The Chief paced nervously around his office. His conscience had gotten the best of him the night before and he knew he had to tell 99 the truth. He had to remember that she was an agent, one of the best he had, and was supposed to be able to handle any news, good or bad. And as the Chief it was his job to be honest with his agents. So he decided to call 99 and ask her to come in to his office immediately. When Larabee informed him that she had arrived, he sat at his desk and told him to send her in.  
  
Her face was covered in a look of panic as she ran into the office. She was glad to get in there, away from the other agents in the building. Something about the way they looked at her was causing shivers to run up and down her spine. Everyone she saw on her way to the Chief's office had been looking at her like they were at a funeral.  
  
"It's Max, isn't it? Something has happened to Max."  
  
"Sit down, 99, there's something I need to talk to you"  
  
Her body was shaking as she lowered it into the chair, her eyes never leaving the Chief's face.  
  
"99, you've always been a loyal agent and one of the best. I've always been able to depend on you, though I'm afraid I've failed to be dependable for you. I lied to you yesterday when you were in here. We haven't heard from Max, he never made contact with the European agent."  
  
99's eyes began to fill with tears as her body began to shake even more. Like the Chief, she knew that Max never missed his contacts. Therefore, she knew deep down in her heart that something was wrong.  
  
" That doesn't mean a thing," stuttered 99, trying to fool herself "maybe he got lost or something.I just know he's not dead, he can't be, not Max."  
  
The Chief was startled by what she had said. "dead" ...he had only said they hadn't heard from Max, not that he was dead. Now he knew that 99's mind was thinking the same thing he was, that the worst had happened. He stood up from his desk and walked over to 99, putting his arm around her shoulder.  
  
"I'm afraid there's something else. I've received reports that of Dr. Peligroso's men celebrating the death of an agent, an agent connected to this case. Now that doesn't mean it was Max, after all there are agents from all around the world working on this case. Furthermore, we don't know which branch the agent worked for."  
  
"I told him not to go on this mission, I knew something would happen. He didn't listen to me; he didn't listen when I told him about the nightmares. I told him about the pictures and the looks and the roses. I."  
  
"Did you say roses?"  
  
"Yeah, rose petals to be more specific. In these nightmares I find rose petals around the house."  
  
The Chief couldn't believe his ears; it had to be a coincidence that she had dreamed about the rose petals. He hadn't told her, nobody out side the case knew, the machines were being smuggled into Europe disguised as shipments of roses for a local florist. When he told 99 this her eyes grew large and her breathing became short.  
  
"And what was it about the pictures, you mentioned something about Max's photos?"  
  
"Each night I've had the nightmares the photo's of Max had begun to fade. It was just a little the first night, then they faded more and more with each following night. During the last on I could barely see his face in any of the photos"  
  
"Last one? You mean you've stopped having them?"  
  
"Yeah, they started last Tuesday and ended the night before Max left. I'm glad they're over, I'd wake up in a cold sweat every night, unable to fall back asleep."  
  
"I'm glad to hear they're over, 99. Now, there's nothing for you to do here. Why don't you go back to your apartment and I'll call you the minute I hear anything"  
  
99 protested at first, but eventually she stood up and turned to leave the office. As she stepped into the outer office her pace quickened. Those looks were surrounding her again. She began to run back to her car and, once home, raced up the stairs and unlocked the apartment door. She locked and bolted door and turned around to go into the kitchen. When she did she dropped her purse and her body began to shake. As she looked over the apartment all she saw was rose petals covering everything. She raced up the stairs; everything up there was covered in rose petals as well. When she entered the bedroom her legs went out from beneath her and she had to grab onto the dresser for support. Just like the rest of the house, the bedroom was covered with rose petals. And on Max's pillow there was a single black rose....  
  
Keep checking back for part two 


	2. Breaking Point?

The door slowly creaked open and the room was flooded with a blinding light. Max had to cover his eyes to stop the pain. Once his eyes had adjusted, he slowly removed his hand from his face and looked up at a figure standing in the doorway. Though he didn't know the man's name, Max recognized him as one of is torturers.  
  
"Get up!" demanded the figure as he grabbed Max's arm and pulled him, painfully, to his feet  
  
Max knew what was going on, in addition to torture sessions he had also been subjected to long hours of interrogation about the code, and at times Control in general. He didn't know which was worst. The torture was taking it's toll on his body, but the interrogations were affecting his mind.  
  
The two men walked across the warehouse and back into a dimly lit room with a table and a few chairs. Without even being told, Max took a seat in the chair closest to the door. Soon after the room was filled by Dr. Peligroso and seven other men. As they took their places around the table Max prepared himself for another long session. When Dr. Peligroso began to speak the words that came out of his mouth sent Max's body into alert. His senses seemed to spark up again and he just stared at the men..He must've waited too long, because the question was repeated in a voice filled with anger.  
  
"Answer me, Smart. How long have you known 99?"  
  
99!? What did she have to do with this? As far as he knew she knew little or nothing about this case.  
  
"How long have I known 99? Well, we mee.Wait a minute, what does she have to do with any of this?"  
  
"So, Mr. Smart, you want to be uncooperative with us. As far as your wife's connection.or should I say dis-connection.with this case is concerned, that's something you shouldn't worry your mind with. Not now, not after what's happened."  
  
Max's eyes filled with rage and he jumped up from his chair.  
  
"Damnit! What happened to 99? What did you do to her? If you so much as put a hand on her I swear right now that I will kill you all with my bare hands!"  
  
The men in the room just stared at him and started to laugh to themselves. Dr. Peligroso just stood at the end of the table with a smirk on his face.  
  
"My, my, we sure have a temper, don't we, Mr. Smart. Don't worry about your wife, I can guarantee that she won't be a problem, we've taken care of her for you."  
  
"NO!!!" screamed Max, his eyes filled with rage and tears "what did you do to her? She had nothing to do with this case. If you wanted to hurt one of us you should've killed me. She was innocent, she had no idea what was going on. How could you hurt her?"  
  
Max's body leaned against the table with it's full weight. His body began to shake as his mind filled with thoughts of his beloved wife, 99. How could he have hurt her? She had been right, he never should've gone on this case. For days he had felt his life slowly fading, but had held onto the one hope he had in the world. Now it seemed that hope was gone and nothing was left. He decided at that moment he wanted to die. He couldn't go on living without 99.  
  
"Geez, Mr. Smart, you speak as if something has happened to your wife. Did she have an accident? I do hope that it was nothing too tragic," his mouth turned up into a sinister grin as he saw Max's eyes widen with every word, "Oh, you must've misunderstood my previous comment. Did you think I said your wife was dead? I never said she died."  
  
Max began to breathe a sigh of relief. He had overreacted. 99 was safe at their apartment.  
  
"Although," interrupted Dr. Peligroso, "I never said she wasn't"  
  
Max's body froze and he stared into his eyes. Was he kidding? It had to be a joke, but something that he saw in his eyes made something deep in Max's soul doubt it was a joke.  
  
"Get him out of here," Dr. Peligroso told his men, "I'm sure Mr. Smart has a lot he needs to think about."  
  
As Dr. Peligroso left the room from the rear, the same man took Max back to his prison in the warehouse.  
  
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The Chief was sitting at his desk trying to calm the frantic voice at the other end of the line.  
  
"99, calm down. I can't understand a word you're saying..What?.Yes, of course I can, I'll be right there. I only wish you would tell me what was wrong..Ok, ok, don't worry, I'm on my way."  
  
The Chief grabbed his coat and raced out of his office. Something about the tone of 99's voice told him that he'd better get over to the Smart's apartment right away. When he arrived at their door he put up his hand to knock, but the door opened before it made contact. 99 threw her arms around him and started to sob uncontrollably.  
  
"99, what's wrong? On the phone your voice sounded like you were in trouble."  
  
99 continued to stain the Chief's jacket with her tears. As he tried to comfort her he looked, for the first time, around the apartment. He couldn't believe what he saw. Rose petals.  
  
"When did this happen?"  
  
"After I got back from Headquarters. I came home and it was just like in the nightmares, only 100 times worse," her voice was beginning to crack as she continued, "I we-went upstairs to our b-be-bedroom and I saw it on Max's pil."  
  
She broke into a fit of tears again as the Chief tried to calm her down and learn the rest of the story.  
  
"Saw what, 99?" he pulled her chin up so she was looking at him, "what's in the bedroom?"  
  
99 slowly stood up and began to climb the stairs. The Chief followed close, noticing with disbelief the rose petals that seemed to blanket everything. He stood behind 99 as they entered into the bedroom. When she stepped out of the way, the Chief's eye's glued onto Max's pillow and the black rose. He walked over to the pillow and when he did he noticed something else, something red. He picked up the rose and noticed small, dried reddish droplets on the rose. Blood he thought and quickly turned around to prevent 99 from seeing it. However, he was too late, 99 was already at his side and had also seen the red droplets.  
  
"Oh!," she gasped, "Max!! They've done something to him. It was Max they were celebrating about. I know it was, I just know."  
  
At that moment, 99 started to cry worst than she ever had. Her body slumped to the floor as exhaustion took over and she passed out. For a moment the Chief tried to convince himself that whoever put the rose there had cut themselves on its thorns. Though, he knew the rose had no thorns.  
  
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Max finally awoke and for a moment forgot where he was. Then he looked around at the dim room and at the corner. It was then that he remembered what had happened only hours before. He couldn't get the thought of 99 out of his head. She's dead, he thought, the look in Dr. Peligroso's eyes and the way he said those last words only made it all seem more true. Suddenly, he noticed a sour smell in the room. Then he remembered getting sick when he was thrown back into his prison. For almost an hour he had been on his knees in the far corner. He cried and vomited uncontrollably as the thought of 99 being dead sunk in. He couldn't understand what was happening to him, he was a mess. The experiences of the past days had affected him like nothing he had ever been through. His body and soul had been crushed to within an inch of existence, but there was one person who had given him the hope to hold on. And now that hope had vanished with a single sentence. Max's mind was no longer on his present situation. He was now thinking about what life would be like for him from now on. He thought about going back to their apartment, alone. The way she used to look at him when they were in an important meeting with the Chief. How she used to squeeze his hand with reassurance whenever they found themselves in a dangerous situation. He couldn't go back to his old life, without 99 he had no life, she was his life, his very soul. He sat for several moments just staring out into space. His breathing slowed as he let his thoughts sink in. Suddenly the odor began to take over, it seem stronger than ever. He decided to try and find something to cover the vomit up with. He noticed a wooden box in one corner of the tiny room and decided that placing it upside down would help to block the stench a little. He went over and picked the box up. When he looked down at the now bare corner he noticed something in the small pile of dust that had accumulated through the years. He bent over and picked up the object. After wiping it off with his shirt he realized it was a jagged piece of glass. He held it in his hand and looked up at the tiny window high up in the room. In the bottom left corner he noticed a piece of the glass was missing. He held up the piece in his hand and they matched up perfectly. At that moment a strange feeling came over him. He sat down on the wooden box and stared at the jagged piece of glass. He turned it over and over in his hand. The dim stream of light that had entered the room streamed through the piece and onto the floor. Max couldn't help but notice how it seemed to sparkle like a diamond..Diamond, ring, love, ...99...Thoughts and images of 99 began to flood his mind once again, only this time she looked different. He closed his eyes and saw her standing there. She had tears running down her checks and she had a look of pain and sorrow in her eyes. She called out to him, begging him to come home, to come be with her. He began to cry and call out her name.  
  
"Don't worry, sweetheart, I won't let you be alone, I will always be by your side."  
  
Max knew he had to be with 99, no matter where she was. He took the piece of glass and examined the edges. Some of them were rather smooth considering the circumstances. However, there was one edge that had a rather sharp point. He stared at the point, taping it with his fingertip. Then, he closed his eyes, whispered "I love you, darling", and pressed the point against his wrist... 


	3. Reversal

The Chief and Larabee stood in the corner of the Smart's apartment, discussing the situation. By this time 99 had composed herself enough to be able to come downstairs into the living room. The Chief had put in a call to Control for some agents to come to the Smart's apartment and get a start on the investigation as to what was going on. He also called a friend of his and arranged for 99 to stay with them until the whole thing was over, or at least until they knew what had happened to Max. Finally, the Chief's friend, Anna, arrived at the apartment to take 99 back to her house.  
  
"Anna, you don't realize how much I appreciate this, Brooke is a dear friend of the family and hasn't been feeling well the past few days."  
  
At this point "Brooke" stood up and picked up her suitcase, only to drop it to the floor and begin crying once more. The Chief immediately went over to her and tried to console her has he had been doing for the past six hours. After a few minutes 99 was able to stand up and was ready to leave. As much as she wanted to stay in their apartment, to stay with all the memories of Max, she knew that she needed some time away. Her mother was visiting family in California and 99 didn't feel up to making the cross-country trip, so she agreed to stay with the Chief's friend. After all, she needed time to think and if she can't be with her mother, what better place than at the home of one of the Chief's friends?  
  
At this time the Control agents arrived at the apartment, and after briefing them and Larabee, the Chief escorted 99 and Anna to Anna's car as he was on his way back to Control. There was a lot of paperwork to be started and he had spent a lot of time comforting 99. As the three were walking to the cars, the Chief remembered that he had forgotten to give Larabee the key to the Smart's apartment so he could lock it up when he and the other agents left. After making sure that 99 was going to be alright, he turned around and headed back to the Smart's apartment, leaving the two women to continue on themselves.  
  
Max sat there with the jagged piece of glass that sparkled like a diamond in the narrow slit of sunlight. He was in a strange state of peace, part of him feeling that everything was going to be fine, he was going to be with his love, 99. The other part of him still held on to reality and what Dr. Peligroso had said. Several hours after hearing those words and after several hours of thinking in this prison he was able to reanalyze his situation. Though is first reaction was to believe the worst, Max now found a tiny, miniscule ray of hope - the piece of glass. The way it sparkled like a diamond reminded him of his and 99's wedding day and their undying love for each other. For him the thought that 99 was still alive was small and hard to hold onto. The jagged, razor sharp edge was, to Max, a way of being with her. After several long minutes of contemplation Max made is decision. He slowly closed his eyes and took a long, deep, peaceful breath..Suddenly, the door flew open and the nameless man entered Max's prison. Taken aback, Max accidentally gave himself a cut on the hand. The cut was small, but deep. Soon a fair amount of blood had dropped on to the floor.  
  
"What the..!? Come on, Smart, it's time for you to take a little trip. Dr. Peligroso feels that people are getting to close, he's decided that it's time to move."  
  
Max was to focused on his wound to really listen to what had been said to him. Next thing he knew, he was being half dragged, half pushed to a room on the far side of the warehouse. Somewhere along their journey he vaguely remember dropping the blood stained glass shard onto the floor. The man pushed him through a door where the rest of Dr. Peligroso's men were waiting.  
  
"Good evening, Mr. Smart, I am sure that you've been made aware of our little trip we're going to make. Now I wouldn't want you to have anything less than a peaceful journey."  
  
At that moment he pulled out a syringe and began to approach Max, who instinctively began to back way. Considering his current physical, psychological, and emotional state, Max knew a struggle was useless. Dr. Peligroso injected the greenish colored liquid into Max's arm and soon everything went dark...  
  
When Max woke up, he found himself in what appeared to be a tiny bedroom. He looked around at his new surroundings and then noticed that his hand was covered in a crude bandage. The room was dark and it took his eyes a moment or two to adjust to the lack of light. The sleeping serum still wasn't completely out of his system and he was feeling groggy. He couldn't make out anyone else in the room, so he decided that it would be safe to get out of the bed and look around a little, to try and get some idea of his new location. He slowly stood up, clutching the edge of the nightstand for support. A quick inventory revealed a twin sized bed, nightstand, small wooden chair, and a tiny four drawer dresser. Everything in the room had one thing in common, it all looked like something from a local dump, as if the owners of the house had left many years ago and all the objects in the house remained uncared for. He walked to the window and looked outside. Grass..as far as the eye could see there was grass. The house was in the middle of nowhere. And as he looked down he judged that he must be on the fourth floor, possibly in an attic. Next, he headed to the door and slowly reached for the knob. To his dismay it was locked. He pressed his ear to the door and listened. All was quiet on the other side. He made a feeble attempt to break it open, but in his condition it was useless. He collapsed with exhaustion and leaned up against the door for a moment before stumbling back to the bed where he once again was overtaken by sleep.  
  
99 and Anna had reached the car and Anna was putting the suitcase into the trunk. 99 was standing motionless and distant next to the passenger side door, unable or unwilling to open the door. She had tried to put the suitcase away herself, but Anna insisted that she let her take care of it, insisting that 99 was in no condition to do anything but rest. She was opening the trunk when 99, stubborn and head strong, tried one last time to help. Her attempt was greeted with a somewhat stern look from Anna. Realizing that Anna was set on putting the piece of luggage away by herself, 99 walked to the front of the car and began to think once again about the situation. Meanwhile, Anna silently cursed to herself over the size of the suitcase, there was very little space left in the trunk. After staring at the open trunk and back at the suitcase, she finally began to shove the items in the trunk to one side. After making sufficient space, she placed 99 suitcase into on side of the trunk. Before she closed the hood, she commented to herself how the black, leather suitcase contrasted quite strongly with the mound of red rose petals. 


End file.
